Finger ring lighter



- Nov. 14, 1950 E. s. CONWAY ETAL 2,530,291

FINGER RING LIGHTER Filed Sept. 1'7. i949 I N VEN TORS EDWARD SC 0 NWAYVm'o AMENDOLARA Patented Nov. 14, 19 50 FINGER RING LIGHTER Edward S.Conway, New York, and Vito Amendolara, Brooklyn, N. Y., assignors, bydirect and mesne assignments, of one-half to said Conway and one-half toSidney B. Good, Brooklyn, N. Y.

Application September 17, 1949, Serial No. 116,236

This invention relates to a combined finger ring and cigarette lighter.

The principal object of the invention is to mount a friction typelighter within the setting portion of a finger ring, said settingportion being hinged to provide access to the lighter.

Another object of the invention is to provide means whereby the lighteris fired automatically when said hinged portion is swung open to revealthe same.

Still another object of the invention is to provide dual opening meansfor said lighter, one of which means is operable by the thumb of thesame hand on which the ring is worn, the other hand then being free tosteady and guide the cigar or cigarette which is to be lighted, to theflame, or to manipulate the steering wheel of a moving automobile whilelighting a cigar or cigarette. p p I Q 7 I For further comprehension ofthe invention, and of the objects and advantages thereof, reference willbe had to the following description and accompanying drawings, and tothea-ppended claims in which the various novel features of the inventionare more particularly set forth.

In the accompanying drawings forming a material part of this disclosure:

Fig. 1 is an isometric view of the ring lighter with the setting portionor cover swung back to reveal the lighter.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view illustrating the manner in whichthe flint is pressed against the sparking cylinder.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view depicting the wick bore with awick therein.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary detail view partly in section of the means forautomatically spinning the sparking cylinder.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary-side view of the ring loop and serves toillustrate a certain groove therein.

Fig. 6 is a sectional the cover removed. I i

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the means for latchingthe cover closedand also the trips for said latch.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary isometric view of the hinge for said cover.

The ring consists of a loop or finger band ID view of the ring lighterwith.

, s'olai'ms. (01. 67-41) As. shown in Figs. 2 and 3 the hollowed outspace includes a substantially half round depres-', sion it within whichthe sparking cylinder is p-ivotally mounted on studs IS in the sidewalls. In the floor of said hollowed out space are two, boreathewickbore l3 and the flint bore l6. (Figs. 1; 2, and 3). .The flint borel'c (Fig. 2) is threaded at its outer end to receive a screw ll. whichacts on a spring Hi to vary the' tension. thereof. on 'a flint stick 20,said flint stick ipro-v jecting from the inner end of said bore againstthe serrated periphery of the sparking cylinder. Immediately above saidflint the floor of the hollowed out space is cut away to form a spark.gap 2! through which sparks from the flint can: travel to wick l2 whichprojects from the bore it into said gap.-

. A comparison of Figs. 2 and 3, the latter of which is a diagonalsection along the center of ofthe wick bore, will show that the wickbore I3 is somewhat closer to the surface than is the flint bore 66 inorder to prevent conflict as they converge together at their inner ends.

At its outer end the wick bore l3 joins with a fluid well 22 capped witha screw 23, said fluid well extending. downward into the loop of thering and containing a quantity of cotton or other absorbent materialsaturated with lighter fluid.

The rearward wall of the hollowed out lighter space is notched as at 24(Fig. 6) to receive a pin on which the cover or setting portion 25 ispivoted through lugs 25 thereon, said pin acting also as an axis for astrong coil spring 2'! whose ends bear one on the cover and the other onsaid rear wall of the lighter space.

:The construction is such that spring 21 exerts tension on the cover 25tending to swing the latter-open, and, unless said cover is latchedclosed, it i's swung open by spring 21.

In order to maintain the cover closed thereis provided a cover latch,the one illustrated in the drawings consisting of a small leaf spring 28(Figs. 1 and '1) suitably secured in the hollowed out-lighter space andhaving near its upper end an extrusion: 3'0 with an abrupt lower edgeand an inclined upper portion. The cover. ispro--v vided with a slot 3ialigned with said latch and having a shoulder or shelf 32 forcooperation with the abrupt lower edge'of said extrusion 30.

The construction is such that as the cover is closed the inclined upperportion of the extrusion 3U enters slot 3 and is cammed to the left inFig. '7 until the shelf 32. moves below the abrupt loweredge thereof, atwhich time said extrusion;

snaps over said shelf to latch the cover closed.

The invention provides dual means for tripping latch 28. One meanscomprises an ordinary push button 33 projecting through the forward wallof the lighter space and having on its outer end an enlarged head formanipulation by a finger, and on its inner end a second enlarged head incontact with latch 28. It will be seen that if the button be pressed,its inner enlarged head will tilt the latch 28 to the left in Fig. 7

causing extrusion 30 to be freed from the shelf 32, whereupon the spring21 (Fig. 1) will swing cover 25 open.

The second latch tripping means is designed to permit of tripping thelatch by the thumb of the hand on which the ring is worn, leaving theother hand free to perform some other duty, for example, to manipulatethe steering wheel of a moving automobile.

This means comprises a thin metal strap or wire 34 welded or otherwisesecured to the rear face of latch 28 (Figs. 1, 6 and 7) and extendingdownward and rearward into a hole 35 which may terminate in a groove 36in the outer periphery of the ring 100p (see also Fig. or may becontinued downward in said loop to take the place of said groove. Nearthe bottom of the loop the strap extends from groove 36 through a secondhole 3'! and across the space interior of said loop to a point on theinner periphery of the opposite side thereof, where said strap issecured in any suitable manner.

The construction is such that when the ring is in place on a finger, thestrap 34 rather than the bottom of the loop is in contact with saidfinger, and, if the tip of the thumb of the same hand be placed againstthe outer, bottom edge of said loop and pressure applied, the strap 34will be pulled downward to conform with the inner periphery of saidloop, and, in turn, will pull the latch 28 to the left (Fig. 7) allowingthe cover 25 to swing open.

In order to fire the wick l2 automatically while the cover 25 isswinging open, said cover has secured thereto a light sheet metal piece38. Piece 38 is bent, as shown in Fig. 4, to form a sort of pawl whosepointed edge '40 engages the serrated periphery of sparking cylinder ll.When the cover is swung open by the spring 21, edge 40 of the pawl 38causes cylinder II to rotate', which rotation produces sparks from theflint 2B, and the wick is fired in the usual manner.

While we have illustrated and described the preferred embodiment of ourinvention, it is to be understood that we do not limit ourselves to theprecise construction herein disclosed and the right is reserved to allchanges and modifications coming within the scope of the invention asdefinedin the appended claims.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire tosecure by United States Letters Patent is:

1. A ring lighter comprising a finger band having an enlarged hollowedout portion, a setting portion hinged to said enlarged portion andacting as a cover therefor, a sparking cylinder pivotally mounted insaid hollowed out portion, a flint stick yieldingly urged intoengagement with said cylinder and a wick situated adjacent said flintstick and adapted to be fired by sparks therefrom, and a pawl secured tosaid hinged portion, said pawl engaging said sparking cylinder when saidhinged portion is closed and being adapted to rotate said 4 cylinderwhile said hinged portion is being swung open, and a spring to swingsaid hinged portion open, a latch to maintain said hinged portion closedand a plurality of latch trips, said latch comprising a, leaf springmounted in said hollowed out portion and having at its upper end anextrusion with anabrupt lower edge, and a slot in said hinged portionhaving a shoulder for engagement by the abrupt lower edge of saidextrusion; and one of said trips comprising a band connected to saidleaf spring and extending through holes and a groove in one branch ofthe finger band, across the aperture interior of said finger band to theother branch of the latter, where the two bands are connected together,said trip band forming with said finger band a smaller loop within theone formed by said finger band alone and said smaller loop being the oneinto which a finger is inserted and acting when pulled to move saidextrusion free of said shoulder.

2. A ring lighter comprising a finger band having an enlarged hollowedout portion, a setting portion hinged to said enlarged portion andacting as a cover therefor, a sparking cylinder pivotally mounted insaid hollowed out portion, a flint stick yieldingly urged intoengagement with said cylinder and a wick situated adjacent said flintstick and adapted to be fired by sparks therefrom, and a pawl secured tosaid hinged portion, said pawl engaging said sparking cylinder when saidhinged portion is closed and being adapted to rotate said cylinder whilesaid hinged portion is being swung open, and a spring to swing saidhinged portion open, a latch to maintain said hinged portion closed anda plurality of latch trips, said latch comprising a leaf spring mountedin said hollowed out portion and having at its upper end an extrusionwith an abrupt lower edge, and a slot in said hinged portion having ashoulder for engagement by the abrupt lower edge of said extrusion; oneof said trips comprising a push button to free said extrusion from saidshoulder, and the'other trip comprising a band connected to said leafspring and extending through holes and a groove in one branch of thefinger band, across the aperture interior of said finger band to theother branch of the latter, where the two bands are connected together,said trip band forming with said finger band a smaller loop within theone formed by said finger band alone and said smaller loop being the oneinto which a finger is inserted and acting when pulled to free saidextrusion from said shoulder.

3. In a ring lighter having a finger band formed with an enlargedhollowed out portion having an open top and within which a lighter ismounted, a setting portion hingedly connected 7 to the finger band forclosing theopen top of the hollowed out portion, resilient means urgingsaid setting portion into an open position, latch means including alatchspring mounted within the hollowed out portion and engaging said settingportion holding said setting portion in its closed position against theaction of said resilient means, and a latch trip for moving said latchto free said setting portion to' be opened, said latch trip comprising atrip band connected at one end to said latch spring and having its otherend extending through holes and a groove in one side of the finger band,across an aperture on the inside of the finger band to the other side ofthe finger band where the free end of said trip band is secured to thefinger band, said trip band with the said other side of the finger bandforming a 5 6 smaller finger loop within the finger band. and UNITEDSTATES PATENTS through which a. finger is inserted so that said NumberName Date trip band will act when pulled to move said latch 2 242 394Harris May 20 1941 spring to face said setting portion. h

EDWARD S. CONWAY. 5 x VITO AMEND 0L AR A. FOREIGN PATENTS Number CountryDate REFERENCES CITED 14,657 France Nov. 11, 1911 The followingreferences are of record in the 151,333

Austria Nov. 10, 193? file of this patent: 10

